You may wonder why you haven’t heard from me in a while. Here’s my answer: I’ve been in Ireland with my side of the family. My mom and dad took us there to celebrate some big birthdays of theirs that are coming up as well as their impending 50th wedding anniversary.

All I can say is, man, what a grand adventure we had! That's why I’ve decided to break away from my standard blog fare and share the whole thing with you. Over the next few weeks I will post a series of reports detailing our journey full of facts, experiences and little Irish tidbits I learned along the way. I’ll be honest, this is just as much about me as it is about you. I want to write down as much as I can so I don’t forget anything. The posts may be long, so if a topic or place doesn’t interest you don’t feel bad if you just choose to skim and view the pictures -- and, boy, do I have pictures. Still, I'm warning you, there’s sure to be a lot of gratuitous historical content so if you’re more interested in my crazy mom stuff come back later and I'll try not to disappoint. However, if it is later and you’re only here because you googled “trip to Ireland,” I strongly suggest you don’t read any other posts on this blog. Why? Because the woman who writes them is a total nut job. Take it from me. Now before I start, I must say there was one big thing that stunk about our trip. My beautiful niece broke her femur at the last minute and couldn’t go. My brother-in-law also stayed behind to play nurse. Our merry band of thirteen got knocked down to eleven, a sad situation if there ever was. But as the Irish say, “It ‘tis what it ‘tis” and as my father said, “The trip is paid for.” So the rest of us hopped onto the jet and -- sorry Megan and Dave -- managed to have the trip of a life time.DAY 1: We arrived at Dublin airport and met our driver/tour guide, Martin, a cool dude about my age from the coast of Connemara. As soon as we took off on the bus, we hit him hard with burning questions enquiring minds needed to know:

What are the most popular souvenirs people buy in Ireland? (Aran sweaters, Celtic jewelry, and Claddagh rings)

What are some classic Irish foods? (bacon and cabbage, Irish stew)

Has he heard of Lucky Charms cereal and, if so, is he offended by its characterization and exploitation of Ireland’s leprechauns? (Never heard of it and doesn’t think he needs to.)

When it came to questions, we had a lot, which is why each post will end with an “Irish Culture” section that discusses interesting things we learned about Ireland and the Irish people.. But now it’s about the journey. Our trek began by driving south to County Wicklow, the area where the Irish TV series Ballykissangel was and Moone Boy are shot. We stopped at ﻿Powerscourt House and Gardens﻿ and, man alive, was it gorgeous. Let me tell you a about it.

Powerscourt House & Gardens

The house was originally a 13th-century castle that many Irish families battled to possess. That is, until 1603. That's when Richard Wingfield visited Queen Elizabeth after he’d racked up some military achievements for the crown. She asked him what he wanted as a reward. He said the scarf she was wearing was sufficient. So she gave it to him...and then tossed in the castle as well as the 47 acres surrounding it. His family stayed there for over 350 years, improving and enlarging the castle and creating beautiful gardens. Here are some photos:

There are also statues everywhere, including this one who clearly felt he’d been short-changed when God created him. My brother dubbed him “Wee Willy Winkie.” Sad to say, I think it fits.

After Powerscourt, we went to ﻿Glendalough Monastic Sitewhere St. Kevin, a 6th century hermit priest, established a monastery and place of learning. The world "glendalough" comes from the Irish "gleann de locha" meaning "the Glen of Two Lakes." Known as the City of Seven Churches, Glendalough was encircled by a wall, long since gone. But the gateway arches remain. Below is photo I took of them from the inside going out. People passed through the arches then walked past a cross carved into a large stone, at which point they were considered to be on holy ground and were given sanctuary.

Not that pillagers cared. Over the years, the site had grown into a thriving and prosperous settlement -- so prosperous that it was attacked 19 times by people wanting to steal its wealth. Many were Vikings, who also stole their trees so they could make boats. Eventually, the site was abandoned and left to ruin but, my, how beautiful the ruins are.

Here are some photos:

It also sits on a beautiful lake. Our crew decided to take a stroll around it. We made sure to stick to the trail because the property around the lake was owned by a farmer with sheep. And when it came to his sheep, the farmer meant business, as you can see by this sign we encountered along the way.

After we experienced Glendalough, we took a beautiful drive through County Wicklow. Did you know Ireland has mountains? They're everywhere! We ended in Kilkenny, a town I suspect might be a favorite of South Park fans. Just sayin.' :)

That night we ate at Kyteler’s, a great family-friendly place with reasonably priced and tasty food, incredible atmosphere and (at least on the night we were there) a hilarious musician who gave volunteers a lesson on playing an Irish instrument called the badhron, much to everyone else’s delight.And that was our first day. Read on if you’re interested one of my Irish cultural observations. The first topic:

Ireland’s Roads and Driving If you ever want to experience abject terror on the road, Ireland is for you. To call the roads narrow is to call Einstein kind of smart. I’m talking narrower than a Westboro Baptist’s mind. Get a load of this:

That’s a tour bus casually crossing paths with our own wide-butt bus. When it passed, I could have reached out and plucked the other driver’s eyebrows. But don’t think you’re safe if you sit on the other side of the bus because it looks like this:

YIKES!

And did you notice they drive on the left hand side of the road instead of right? That only adds to the horror. Not all tourists remember to do it. Luckily, there are a few two-lane roads here and there to keep heart attacks at bay. Desperately few.

On that note, I learned that Irish folk also walk on the left-hand side of trails and sidewalks instead of the right. It’s one of those things you don’t really think about but, when you do, it makes sense. It also makes it a little crazy. There are a lot of tourist who, like us, walk on the right. There are a lot of Irishmen who are used to these tourists. So when someone is approaching you head on, it’s hard to know if you should veer left or right. In deference to the Irish, I usually moved left…and ran into people.

Since we’re on the topic of roads, I thought I’d mention gasoline – which is a fortune by the way. That price on the right is in liters, people. And I thought it was interesting that all the gas stations I saw had different names – none were the same -- at least on the smaller roads. My favorite station name is Emo. We were going to stop for there for gas but decided to pass because we'd heard the workers there were moody. :)

And that's our first day. I hope you enjoyed it. I'll be back soon with Day 2 of our Irish adventure!

Great blog on first day of trip! I didn't realize that it the trip was also for the 50th anniversary of the parents! What kind of daughter-in-law am I? Actually I thought it was there 49th anniversary, something that I heard in retrospect? Anyhoo...I should wish them a happy belated anniversary!

Reply

Mom

7/6/2014 11:32:12 pm

You're an awesome daughter-in-law, Lori! This year was their 49th, so you're right, but it's close, plus the big birthdays were this year so they rolled it all into one...at least I think. Maybe I'm the one who's wrong! ;)

Janene, really enjoyed this! I also really like the feature your blog platform gives for sharing multiple photos as a slide show. Way cool. Sounds like you guys had a great time. Loved all the photos. I cannot believe that taxi driver's never heard of Lucky Charms!! Whenever I've gone to Europe, I've always been struck by how old everything is there. Such a different feeling from the US. That's funny about people walking on the left side of the sidewalk in ireland. I am left-handed and I naturally feel drawn to the left side of the sidewalk. Maybe I should relocate!!

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Mom

7/7/2014 04:31:14 am

I'm glad you enjoyed it! And I like the slide show format, too, especially since I have so many photos to share. Side note: I did show our guide a photo of the Lucky Charms box and he groaned. Can't say I blame him! As for the feel of Europe, I totally agree. My brother said he didn't realize how plastic America must feel to European visitors. And the left-hand side thing? It amazed me how quickly I got used to it...though I still never want to drive there!

This turned out to be a very rewarding travelogue, Janene. The mixture of history, geography, logistics and quirkiness is loveable. I have learned an important lesson too —it never pays to worry about your sheep! Incidentally, Indians are also supposed to walk on their left although they prefer doing it all over the road. ;)

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Mom

7/7/2014 07:46:17 am

Thanks so much. It was a fun piece to write and I've got so much more material! It's really embarrassing. I love what you said about Indians walking all over the road. Too funny! That's a place I'd love to visit someday.

Janene, Ireland looks so beautiful. So much green. Sounds like the sort of place I'd love to wander slowly through. Really not much different from where I live now, except for the long history. Looking forward to your updates.

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Mom

7/8/2014 03:54:44 am

It is beautiful, NP. I can envision you wandering along the hillsides. And the history is amazing, too. Can't say enough wonderful things about the land and the people.

Janene,
I have watched Ballykissangel episodes over and over. The countryside is so lush and vivid;y green. My niece Rachael, did a walkabout in 2009, in the Springtime. She wandered all over the countrysides. That bus would have unnerved me and I would have been drinking beforehand, in order to pretend not to notice the way you tweezed the other bus driver's eyebrows. Sorry your two relatives got left at home. Sad for them. Great history and photos.

Reply

Mom

7/23/2014 09:19:21 am

Thanks, Theresa! My folks loved Ballykissangel and, you know, you could totally see how it was shot there. Just so beautiful. Thanks for giving it a read!

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Weird Author

My name's Murphy, Janene Murphy, and I'm a weird mom.

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